City man who planned murder on Myspace gets 20 years in prison

TRENTON — “If they had just spoken face to face, instead of on MySpace, Mr. Williams might not have been on trial for this job,” said Mercer County Prosecutor Brian McCauley. “He would have been on trial for another job, that’s for sure, but not this one.”

Keith Williams, the first defendant found guilty in the Trenton MySpace Murder case, kept his head down as the prosecution and family members of the victim pleaded with Judge Robert Billmeier to sentence Williams to the maximum term allowed under the law. The judge agreed with their requests and sentenced the defendant to 20 years behind bars, during Friday afternoon’s hearing.

On May 10, Williams was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder for the 2008 execution-style shooting of Arrell Bell. The victim, defendant and three additional co-defendants, are accused of being members of the Sex Money Murder Gang,SMM, a subset of the Bloods Gang.

According to court documents, Bell, who was also known as Broadway or B-way, was targeted by fellow gang members Williams, Brandon Edwards, John Murphy and Karim Sampson for allegedly “snitching” to authorities regarding Sampson’s involvement in a 2007 robbery.

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An expert witness for the prosecution and gang slang expert, Lt. Ronald Hampton, testified during a post sentencing hearing, Friday, that most street gangs do not tolerate cooperating with law enforcement to provide information against fellow members. “He had to be disciplined for snitching,” testified Hampton. “In most gangs, and especially in the Sex Money Murder Gang, snitching is punishable by murdering the one who snitches.”

Reports indicate that Williams was known as a “five star general,” and a “shot-caller,” by the age of 19. Prosecutors said he was on probation for almost seven weeks on an unrelated fourth degree firearm charge, when he began conspiring with seven other members of SMM, to punish Bell.

“It’s hard to speculate or even to say if he had been in jail for that offense, versus being on probation, if this would have happened,” said McCauley.

Eight members of the gang, which included Williams and Bell, met at Trenton’s Stacy Park on the evening of May 1, 2008. Although it is still undetermined who actually pulled the trigger, lawyers for the state contend that it was Williams who gave the marching orders. “Keith Williams is the only one with enough juice to get this done,” said McCauley.

Tenacious law enforcement tracked conversations regarding killing Williams the codefendants had on the social networking site, MySpace. The very public correspondences lead authorities directly to Williams, Edwards, Murphy and Sampson.

Videos from William’s lengthy interview with police, when he was arrested a month after the murder, shows a confident young man who admitted to controlling criminal activity and of who lived and who died on the streets of Trenton.

Parents of the deceased were unaware of their son’s involvement in the gang and told The Trentonian how important it is for all parent’s to be more involved in their children’s lives.

“He was my only child,” said Bell’s mother Beatrice Smith to Judge Billmeier. “He was no angel but he did ask God for forgiveness for everything he did wrong.”

Smith places roses at the park where her son took his last breath every month, to keep the memory of him alive in her heart.

The victim’s father spoke about missing his son’s hugs, telling his son how much he loved him and how much he will miss their father-son moments. “His life was cut short, over nonsense,” said Gilbert Bell.

William’s defense attorney told the judge that his client’s admission of being the “big man,” was all “puff,” and it was stupid for Williams to admit to something that was clearly not true.

“I believe the jury contemplated that he actually backed out of the plan,” said Public Defender Mark Fury. “That is why I think they took so long to deliberate.”

According to Fury, New Jersey State’s law dictates that if his client had a change of heart, the only way he could have proven that is by going to authorities and notify them of the impending plan to kill Bell.

“But if he had done that then my client would have been killed,” said Fury.

Williams did not address the judge to plead for a lighter sentence and according to his attorney, the 24-year-old will file an appeal with the higher court. “My client still maintains his innocence, so it made no sense for him to say anything to the court.”

The defendant was sentenced to 20 years at a state prison, with a mandated 85 percent time served, 17 years, before he is eligible for parole. In addition, Williams was guilty of violating parole by possessing a handgun. He was sentenced to 9 months to run consecutively.

“It is clear that the defendant set in position the murder of Mr. Bell,” said Judge Billmeier. “And he has shown no remorse.”